Beckstrom History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Netherlands
England
Germany

Beckstrom is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Beckstrom family once lived in Sussex and Buckinghamshire. 1 The Beckstrom surname is a habitational name derived from any of various places named Beckley, such as those in Kent, Oxfordshire, and Sussex. The place name Beckley comes from the Old English name becca with the Old English word leah, meaning a clearing in the forest. 2

Early Origins of the Beckstrom family

The surname Beckstrom was first found in Suffolk where Ralph de Beckele was listed in the Curia Regis Rolls for 1211. Later, Richard de Beckele was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1327 and later again, John Beklay was listed as a Freeman of York in 1446. 3

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had two listings for the family: Thomas de Beckelegh, Oxfordshire; and Henry de Beckcle, Oxfordshire. 4

Early History of the Beckstrom family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Beckstrom research. Another 115 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1291, 1438, 1622, 1661, 1689 and 1753 are included under the topic Early Beckstrom History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Beckstrom Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Beckstrom family name include Beckley, Beckly, Bistley, Bickley and others.

Early Notables of the Beckstrom family

Distinguished members of the family include William Beckley (died 1438), an English Carmelite, born in Kent, probably in the neighbourhood of Sandwich, where he appears to have entered the order of the Carmelites in early life. While still young he proceeded to Cambridge, where the Carmelites had a house since the year 1291. Here he seems to have taken his doctor's degree in divinity, and to have established a considerable reputation as a theologian. Bale...
Another 74 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Beckstrom Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Beckstrom migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Beckstrom surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Beckstrom Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Anna Maria Asp Beckstrom, who settled in New York, NY in 1849
Gustaf Beckstrom, who settled in Illinois in 1860

Contemporary Notables of the name Beckstrom (post 1700) +

Herman F. Beckstrom, American Republican politician, Candidate in primary for Michigan State Senate 23rd District, 1952 5

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 14) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html